Liquid and solid bar compositions based on soap and/or synthetic surfactants are commonly used for cleansing the human body. A wide variety of additives have been suggested for inclusion in said compositions. Some enhance the physical properties, e.g., bar hardness, wear rate, resistance to water. Others enhance the in-use properties such as lather characteristics and some impact on the impression the composition has on the skin both during washing (bar feel) and afterwards.
It has been discovered that the addition of certain polymeric materials to such liquids and bars can have a beneficial skin mildness effect for the user without deleteriously affecting other product properties. In general, the useful polymers should be soluble or dispersible in water to a level of at least 1% by weight, preferably at least 5% by weight at 25.degree. C. Suitable polymers are high molecular weight materials (mass-average molecular weight determined, for instance, by light scattering, being generally from about 20,000 to about 5,000,000, preferably from about 50,000 to about 4,000,000, and more preferably from about 500,000 to about 3,000,000) and preferably have a thickening ability such that a 1% dispersion of the polymer in water at 20.degree. C. exceeds about 1 PaS(1O poise) at a shear rate of 10.sup.-2 sec.sup.-1 Useful polymers are the cationic, nonionic, amphoteric, and anionic polymers useful in the cosmetic field. Preferred are cationic and nonionic resins and mixtures thereof. Highly preferred are the cationic resins.
To date the preferred cationic polymers include cationic guar gums such as hydroxyproxyltrimethylammonium guar gum.
However, it has been discovered that there is an odor problem with using such "cationic trimethylamine quaternized polymers" in compositions having a pH of 7.5 or above. They break down and release odoriferous labile amines.
Odoriferous labile amines are detectable at levels as low as 2 ppb. Personal cleansing products containing odoriferous quaternary amine polymers are disclosed in one or more of the following patents:
______________________________________ Pat. No. Date Inventor(s) ______________________________________ US 3,761,418 9/1973 Parran, Jr.; US 4,234,464 11/1980 Morshauser; US 4,061,602 12/1977 Oberstar et al.; US 4,472,297 9/1984 Bolich et al.; US 4,491,539 1/1985 Hoskins et al.; US 4,540,507 9/1985 Grollier; US 4,673,525 6/1987 Small et al.; US 4,704,224 11/1987 Saud; and Jap. J57105 6/30/82 Pola. ______________________________________
All of the above patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference, especially their for basic personal cleansing product and quat polymer disclosures.